After five years...
 

I finally got to use my generator today!

Every three months I have been swapping out the Stabil infused fuel and running it for twenty minutes to keep the carb happy.

That effort paid off this morning.

The power went off at 2:16 but I waited until 9 to get her fired up.

I used to know what the expected fuel burn is but have now forgotten it.

There are ten gallons at the ready so this could go on for a while before I need to take a ride for more.

When compared to the plight or folks in war torn Ukraine this is a minor inconvenience.

Should just run it dry and avoid al the wasted time of every 3 months and switching fuel, etc. You can also buy non ethanol fuel in the Lakes region, put your own Stabil in it and save more. But I always just run it dry and no issues on start. I do this for all my gas operated tools.

I do the same if the machine has a fuel turnoff. Otherwise, I just keep the fuel partially full, so I have to put fresh fuel in every time I use it. That, of course, doesn't solve the problem of remaining fuel in the carburetor.

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Well, you weren't the only one.

Got up at 5am to got to work...
Power is flickering, so... got the generator ready.

Started clearing the yard, and broke a shear pin (plenty of spares... just a pain).

Clearing the yard and car... noticed the road had not been plowed.
Dirt road with snow way to deep to chance getting stuck and blocking the plow when it finally made it.

Called in.

Lights went off/on/off.

Started the generator... walked around to see if trees are down.
Sure enough. Some limbs from mine... but the neighbor lost a tree across the line.

Eversource and the plow finally got the basics back at around 10:40, just came in to dry off after finishing the work with the saw.

Our power came back around 2:15.

Generator notes:

I do my own Stabil infusing.

My attempts at putting a drain valve on the generator were unsuccessful due to the extreme space constraints between the tank and the carb.

The lack of a shut off has me syphoning as much as possible out of the tank and then running it with fresh gas long enough to get the float bowl refreshed.

Generators are a bit like an employee...

If it doesn't work when I need it to work then I don't need it.

My quarterly gyrations may be excessive but she fired right up and purred quite well today.

Now I will need to see how much the oil level has dropped.

The oil level was fine but while there I think I found something helpful.

There is a drain screw and tube on the underside of the carb.

The gizmo on top of the carb looks like a solenoid valve that only opens when current flows.

I have seen these on riding lawnmowers and believe their purpose is to prevent a bouncing float from allowing gas to flow while in transit.

If what I see here is what I think it is I should be abke to drain the float bowl.

I would prefer to drain the tank itself but this is better than nothing.

To clarify, you'd be able to pull the drain screw to drain the fuel in the carb while the solenoid valve would prevent new full from filling up the bowl?

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That is what I am hoping will happen.

I won't know until I do the next fuel swap in February.

Gotcha—good luck!

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Fuel shut off, 1/2 throttle and full to 3/4 choke until it dies.
If you're feeling froggy, crack the float bowl drain after.

15+ years using that method. Nowadays the only carbs I have issues with are the ones in my diet.

The unit doesn't have a full shut-off; that is why the siphoning of the tank.

Why not just run it dry and leave it empty? I have an older Troy Bilt 5000w in my storage unit that I leave empty. Every time I need it I just add fresh gas and it fires right up.

This is what I try to do, but without ever knowing how long the outage will be, it's nigh impossible to get it right unless running with the smallest margin of fuel reserve and having to add fuel too often.

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Be careful with your generator!
 

This house caught fire.

Moultonborough investigators said the fire was caused by a portable generator under a deck that had developed a mechanical malfunction. That started a fire that spread to the building.

https://www.wmur.com/article/firefig...rough/42278095

The good news is that the generator sips gas.

The bad news is that means running it out of gas takes forever.

Since we actually used the generator for its intended purpose this time, rather than refreshing the fuel, there was plenty in the tank.

It will stay there until 2/7 which is my next three month refresh date.

Then I'll use the syphon hose, run fresh fuel and then try to empty the carb bowl.

That is unless I get one of my Christmas list gifts... a 12V fuel transfer pump!

I would strongly consider running the engine until it dies out after the siphoning is done.

Siphoning alone will not remove all the fuel and, IMO, is much more likely to introduce fueling issues since there is now a small qty remaining that inevitably will go stale well before a large qty otherwise would, fuel treatment or not.

If the photo is of the generator in question, you can splice a fuel shutoff valve into the gas line. I had to do on my old generator and it was a bit of a "beoch", but doable and it definitely helped come put up time.

BTW, after putting away in the shed years ago, I smelled gas and realized that the float bowl failed and ran about 3-4 gallons of fuel out onto the floor of my shed and the ground below (not good). Took several months to get rid of the smell - that is what forced me to put a shutoff valve on the machine.

Where do you see that opportunity?

In the picture there are two small hoses.

One is to drain the float bowl and the other is to provide a safe exit for fuel in the event that the float sticks open.

There is practically no room in back of the carb to add a valve (or operate one) on the tank fuel hose.

Go to Harbor Freight and get a battery operated transfer pump Item #4946. It runs on two D size battery band works great.

A longer section of fuel line solves the shut off valve issue.


If it makes you feel any better about fuel in the tank, both of my generators are stored with at least 1/2 tank of fuel at all times. The small genny has fuel in it from last year and the big one has fuel in it that's approaching 2yrs old.

And even though it's not a generator, my snowblower is running on last season's fuel. Everything gets the Sea Foam treatment.

As of right now I have roughly 14 small engines that operate seasonally in their own way. None of the tanks are stored empty.


If you insist on emptying the tank, leave the fuel cap slightly loose so the remaining fuel vapor can vent. It will otherwise expand with increased temps and can split the fuel tank

I have something like that on my Christmas list...

After five years...
 

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